In my last blog, I spoke of my “Brother from Another Mother.”
This time, I’m going to talk about my “Sister From Another Mister.” I have been
very blessed to have several women in my life that could qualify as sisters,
such as Regina Raleigh and Sheila Vest, but they are also mentors. The person I
want to tell you about is the closest female I have that is closest to my age.
Unlike Randall Kimbro, I can’t say that I know a lot of her family. Basically,
aside from her mother, I don’t know any of Monica Bishop’s relatives. But, over
the past twenty-three years, she has – and continues to be – one of the closest
people in my inner circle, and someone who has given time and time out.
I met Monica back in 1994. She was dating one of my friends
at the time. Growing up in Dickson County, I never was around many people of a
different heritage at that point. Monica grew up in Dallas, and is Hispanic.
She and I became friends pretty quickly. We bonded over the Dallas Cowboys. As
someone who grew up in the city, she was different than many people I had
become close to at that point. With the small-town background that I have, I
look back and realize how limited I was in the way that I viewed things. There
was a whole world outside Walmart Supercenter.
Since 1994, Monica has been my sounding board on career, love
life, spirituality, and the Dallas Cowboys’ chances. The love life talks are of
particular note. She used to take great delight in teasing me because I used to
say things like “I wasn’t complete until I got married.” Then, after my divorce
– after the scars healed, she’d remind me that was my primary goal in life, and
ask “How’d you like it?” She would also good-naturedly ask me if she was
“complete” before she married her husband – maybe there was a little bit of
smart-assness in tone, but that is what sisters are for, right?
But….seriously. Outside of my father, nobody has been there
for me in quite the same way as she has. When I moved back to Tennessee after a
year in Georgia, she let me crash at her place for close to a year. I still dog
sit at her house from time to time now. Besides her love of her friends, there’s
also her heart when it comes to pets….dogs, cats, and a rabbit. (A really cool
bunny, by the way) There’s that – and a whole lot more. For about two weeks
after meeting her, I thought I was in love. (If you were nice to me at all in
the 1990s, chances are I thought you were pretty cool!)…..but after that, I
realized that we were only to be friends. I’m grateful for that then….but even
more, now. Maybe next year, the ‘Boys will win one!
